About Me

Monday, September 3, 2012

Week 2: Chilling Out in Hot Waters

Today marks one week that I’ve been living in
Aguascalientes, where I’m spending my Fulbright year as an English Teaching
Assistant. I’ve met a ton of awesome hidrocálidos
(the name for Aguascalientes natives, literally “Hot Water People”),
explored most of the city by foot (I’m still too cheap for buses), and found a marvelous
semi-permanent place to live (¡gracias a Dios!). This city is home to around a
million Mexicans, but it definitely has a small town feel. After spending most
of last year fighting for space on the São Paulo metro with 20 million other
people, that’s a welcome change. Aguascalientes boasts a lot of gorgeous
architecture, including impressive churches and sprawling plazas. I got lucky
and found a private room connected to a grandma’s house right on the corner of
Jardín de San Marcos, a tranquil garden in the middle of downtown. The kitchen
is not much to look at, nor is my humble room, but I’ve been pleasantly
surprised by a faster Internet connection here than at my house in Santa Rosa…
and it’s not even stolen from the neighbors!

After arriving to Aguascalientes last Monday evening, my UAA
(Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes) tutor took me out to dinner and
delivered me to another teacher’s apartment, where I stayed a few nights as I
looked for other housing options. On Tuesday I went to the university and met all
the teachers in the Foreign Languages department, plus most of the students.
I’ll be working with students who are studying to become English teachers,
extension school students who are pure beginners, and everyone in between via
English conversation clubs at the library. The best parts of the job, besides
molding the minds of young scholars and eating tacos daily for lunch, you ask?
I’m legally only permitted to work 14 hours per week, and my contract entitles
me to three day weekends every single weekend. Oh baby.

Tuesday night I went out to a pizzeria with several of the
other university teachers and watched the Rieleros
de Aguascalientes pro baseball team play Game 6 of the Mexican championship
series against the Rojos del Águila de Veracruz. Our team lost, but it was exciting to support them in their first
championship appearance since 1978. The rest of the week I was free to spend my
time getting to know the city, which I absolutely did. My favorite things about
being back in Mexico largely relate to food: cheap pan dulce from panaderias on every corner, chili-covered lollipops, aguas frescas from street vendors (especially horchata and jamaica), TACOS, chaskafrutas
(fresh fruit frozen yogurt
covered with chocolate)… I also love hearing banda music everywhere, running
into mariachi concerts in the middle of the mall food court, and the daily “¡El gaaaaaaasss!” cry from the dude who refills home gas tanks (haha people who have
spent time in Mexico will recognize that call).

Thursday night I went to a
Mexihco Babel meeting downtown, which is a biweekly encounter for polyglots. We
met in a café and split into small groups to practice speaking whatever foreign
language we’re learning. My group played Pictionary in English (ok, in
Spanglish) while another group played Uno in French (or Un, I guess). On Friday night I was invited to a welcome party for the
first-year English language students. Most of the university language teachers
attended as well, and it was at the house of one of the students. I admit that
culturally it seems kind of strange/dangerous to have students and teachers
partying hard together, but that’s what happens here and who am I to judge? I
had a blast meeting lots of my students and surprising everyone with my ability
to dance banda (“No manches, I told you I was Mexican, didn’t I?”).

My weekend was very relaxing, in
part due to heavy rainfall in the afternoons and evenings. On Saturday night an
English assistant from outside London arrived at the house; she’ll be staying
in one of the extra rooms until she can find a more permanent place. I’ve
enjoyed hanging out with her a bit and introducing her to Mexican street food.
This morning we went to the university early so I could start my first day of
work on the right foot. I led a two-hour Q&A session with students in a
Listening and Speaking class, and it went perfectly. It was a great opportunity
for us to get to know each other, and I hope it got them a little more excited
about the doors English will open for them down the road.

Tomorrow morning I’m playing and
singing two songs in the university auditorium for a school-wide welcome event.
Those are the only details I have at the moment, but you’ll hear more about how
that goes in the next blog. I’ve been working on becoming a “Yes Man” when it comes
to performing my music; agreeing to play at this mystery event was a direct
result of that. Cross your fingers for me! Until next week, lovely readers.
PEACE.

1 comment:

Hi Mateo you sang great! And I'm glad that you're enjoying your staying here at Ags, even, I recognize that it is a small city, but, you can visit and enjoy the villages around the city, like San José de Gracia or San Juan perhaps. Well, have a nice day, see you in the University.espero q no haya entendido, mi Idioma ingles todavia no es muy bueno stoy en propedeutiko jeje, saludos att. Danny.